World Jewry Committee
The World Jewry Committee offers the congregation a variety of learning experiences, opportunities for advocacy, and other activities to affirm the solidarity of the Jewish people within our Greater Washington Jewish community and worldwide, with a particular focus on the people and State of Israel. As part of our efforts, the committee presents a variety of congregational and community educational meetings, discussion groups, and artistic and cultural programs. We offer congregation members opportunities to see the diversity that is worldwide Jewry and encourage active participation, as individuals and as a congregation, in efforts that strengthen links between Jews the world over. We also work to fight against all efforts that seek, in any way, to discriminate against full and active participation by the State of Israel in international activities.
The World Jewry and Adult Education Committees are co-sponsoring a screening of Avivia Ahuvati (Aviva My Love) on Sunday, June 15, starting at 8 p.m. Directed by Shemi Zarhin, Aviva My Love won six Ophir Awards (Israeli Oscars) in 2006. The film is a family drama about a hotel cook who longs to break away from the doldrums of her job and her highly eccentric and dysfunctional family and secretly dreams of becoming a successful writer. All are invited and there is no charge, but parents should note that one scene includes a few seconds of male nudity.
Recent World Jewry Committee speakers have included Gregg Rickman, the U.S. State Department Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, who spoke on recent administration efforts to implement the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act of 2004; and the Ambassador from Grenada to the U.S., the Honorable Dr. Denis G. Antoine, who spoke on why Grenada votes against anti-Israel resolutions in the U.N. General Assembly.
The World Jewry Committee also sponsored the Kosher Wine Tasting Program in March and the Yom HaZikaon / Yom Ha’Atzmaut (Israel Memorial Day/ Independence Day) program held in April, with readings, prayers and candle-lighting marking our remembrance and dancing, singing and food marking our celebration.
Global Report on Anti-Semitism: Congregants may recall a little over one year ago, when Gregg J. Rickman, the State Department’s Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, spoke at Har Shalom, informing us of the responsibility of his office. A major responsibility of that office is to issue periodic reports on the scope and nature of anti-Semitism worldwide. The latest report of that office, “Contemporary Global ANTI-SEMITISM: A Report Provided to the United States Congress,” was released earlier this month and is available for viewing at Anti-Semitism Report.
Follow-up to 2006 Speaker: Massive Holocaust Archives to reach U.S. Holocaust Museum
Congregation members may remember the appearance at Har Shalom on July 18 last year of Ambassador Edward Donnell, U.S. Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues. Among the many subjects O’Donnell covered was the impending opening to the public of the massive archives at Bad Arolsen, Germany, under the jurisdiction of the International Tracing Service (ITS), part of the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). These archives had been closed for over 60 years, until the 11-nation commission overseeing them finally completed their ratification processes.
The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) just announced in the Summer 2007 issue of its Impact newsletter that a vote by the ITS governing body will permit the first set of records from the Bad Arolsen archives to be transferred to the museum later this year. The archives contain between 30-50 million records documenting the fate of more than 17 million victims of Nazism – both Jews and non-Jews – in concentration, slave labor or displaced persons camps.
For more information on this subject, see a story in the New York Times at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/05/world/europe/05archive.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=slogin, or visit the USHMM website at the following address: http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/focus/its
New Report on Anti-Semitism in Argentina
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has just made available a recent report on Anti-Semitism in Argentina, prepared by the Argentine Jewish Associations Delegation (DAIA) and its Center for Social Studies (CES). DAIA is the representative organization for Argentina’s Jewish Community. It has local offices in each of the Argentinean Provinces where there is a Jewish community. DAIA’s objectives are to defend the dignity of Argentinean Judaism, fighting against any act inspired by Anti-Semitism and Nazi ideas; struggle against anti-Semitism, ethnic, social or religious discrimination and xenophobia. It also fights against the permanent threat of terrorism.A summary of the report as well as the complete document (in English) can be found on the ADL website
The Mercaz USA September (Sukkot) Web Newsletter offers an interesting feature story, “The View from Jerusalem," with 10 concrete actions we can take to strengthen our ties with Israel and Jerusalem. Click here for details.
The View From Jerusalem -- The Mercaz USA September (Sukkot) Web Newsletter offers an interesting feature story, “The View from Jerusalem," with 10 concrete actions we can take to strengthen our ties with Israel and Jerusalem. Click here.
